[Ventricular fibrillation after administration of adenosine]

In the submitted case-history the authors describe a hitherto unknown proarrhythmic effect of adenosine. Adenosine was administered on account of supraventricular tachycardia and the undesirable proarrhythmic effect was so-called "sine wave-like tachycardia" and ventricular fibrillation. Proarrhythmia was resistant to electric cardioversion and resuscitation was successful probably only after the breakdown of adenosine. The very short half-life of breakdown of this antiarrhythmic is thus useful not only for antiarrhythmic strategy but, because of the possible occurrence of rare proarrhythmias, adenosine holds a preferential position among other antiarrhythmic drugs.